1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable electronic device, and more particularly to a portable electronic device having an interceptor capable of preventing foreign substances such as dust, water or the like from entering.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a portable electronic device refers to a device such as a portable terminal, an mp3 player, a portable multimedia player (PMP) or the like, which enables a user to access a variety of contents. Such devices have been developed and miniaturized to have multi-functions to meet various consumers' demands. Specifically, in the case of the portable terminal it has provided the user with not only a data transmitting and receiving service but also a variety of multimedia services such as providing letter information, image information, an mp3, the Internet, a digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), games or the like.
Further, the usage of portable terminal has been widely spread due to the various functions as described above. The terminal is carried by a user to many places, including a hot dry or wet sauna, a swimming pool or a water park in summer, or a ski resort or the like in winter.
Since the portable terminal has been used in a variety of places as stated above, there is a great chance that foreign substances such as dust, moisture or water can be introduced into the inside of the portable terminal, causing damages.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a portable terminal 10 in the prior art includes an upper case 11 and a lower case 12 to be joined with the former. A rubber member 13 is provided to prevent water from penetrating into a coupling surface formed between the upper case 11 and the lower case 12. The rubber member 13 is inserted into the coupling surface between the upper case 11 and the lower case 12. Formed on the coupling surface of the lower case 12 is a U-shaped groove 14 for receiving the rubber member 13. After joining the upper case 11 and the lower case 12 together, the rubber member 13 is inserted into and rests within the groove 14, which intercepts the foreign substances or water being entered and prevents them from entering the inside of the portable terminal 10.
However, the prior art having configurations as described above has a drawback in that it the rubber member made from a soft material, which is inserted into the U-shaped groove formed in the coupling surface between the upper case and the lower case, tend to deteriorate over time. However, if a hard rubber member is employed to improve the assembling characteristics instead of the soft rubber member, the sealing force of the rubber member is reduced, which lowers waterproofness of the device and further creates an undesirable gap between the upper case and the lower case.
Furthermore, since the rubber member is formed in a shape to be closely fitted in the groove, it is difficult to design such fine dimension, size, pattern or the like when forming with the rubber member.